


The Star Mappers; A Faerie Tale from Kashyyyk

by glorious_clio



Series: Star Wars is a Faerie Tale [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Genre: Backstory, Friendship, Gen, kessel run
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-28 00:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10819704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glorious_clio/pseuds/glorious_clio
Summary: The trip to Kessel is a long one, and Chewie and Han Solo seem to have run out of stories to tell each other. Until Chewie digs deep into his childhood. But then, Han never had a childhood.





	The Star Mappers; A Faerie Tale from Kashyyyk

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Star Mappers](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/288414) by glorious clio. 
  * Inspired by [Instructions](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/288417) by Neil Gaiman. 



> Thanks, as ever, to lalalalalawhy for her beta skills!
> 
> The poetry in the story comes from a Neil Gaiman poem called "Instructions" which you could generously say I "remixed." I took a lot of inspiration from that poem over the years, and I highly recommend you read it. If you like Gaiman and poetry, I mean.
> 
> I also created a playlist that you're welcome to listen to while you read, and you can find that here:  
> https://8tracks.com/glorious-clio/the-star-mappers-a-faerie-tale-from-kashyyyk

__

_Once upon a time, there were two cubs: one very strong and adventurous, and her dearest friend who was smaller and a bit more clever. Both cubs were a matter of confusion to the rest of the family troop, however._

_Runa loved nothing more than playing in the mud, or exploring a new patch of forest, but half the time she was dreaming of off-world adventures. Tofi was smaller than all the other cubs, devoted to the younger cubs and sometimes picked on by older ones, but Runa liked him best of all. Their favorite activity was to climb the highest trees and gaze at the stars. Runa dreamed and planned of one day being among them. Tofi liked the stories in the stars well enough, but he was happy to stay in his trees. You might think it strange that two such different cubs would be friends, but that is often the way of the galaxy, to find someone who balances your own dreams._

_Runa understood Tofi when he was nestled in his tree with his favorite nuts or berries to make beautifully colored inks, and Tofi understood Runa when she discovered a new star to go see someday. They tracked them together on scrolls and strips of paper, with colorful ink from Tofi’s berries, making spectacular maps for Runa’s future adventures. She never said, ‘Come with me, Tofi,’ for if she had, he wouldn’t be able to say no, and he would be miserable away from his cozy trees._

_So their childhoods passed, half on the ground for Tofi’s sake, half with their heads in the stars for Runa’s. Their elders taught them all they knew of survival, of nurturing others, of fighting when it came down to it. Tofi and Runa learned as much as they could, but Runa had dreams of her own, and Tofi was the one who thought they would come true for his friend._

_The day they reached adulthood, Runa began work on her ship, a vessel that would bring her to the farthest stars. And she would bring her stories back to Tofi, and they would make the galaxy’s best star charts._

  
  


 

“So, it’s a story about Wookies?” Han asked.

“Of course,” Chewie said. “You know we are the best navigators in the galaxy. Did you never wonder who made the first maps?”

“Runa and Tofi?” Han cocked an eyebrow.

“Why not?”

They were leaving tomorrow, going on the Kessel Run. It wasn’t the first time, it won’t be the last time (hopefully anyway), but even though Han and Chewie think they know what to expect, the truth was, the Kessel Run was always a risk. Too many risks. The charts were bad, the cargo illegal, and no matter how much the Galaxy has been explored and inhabited, there was still more out there. Which was good for the likes of them.

So Han and Chewie settled in for one more drink planetside before they risked everything for a payday. They had been partners for so long, it was hard to find new stories to tell each other sometimes, but Han had never expected a faerie tale. But then, it wasn’t like he had many of those in his childhood.

“It’s a long tale,” Chewie said. “But so’s the Kessel Run....”

“Whatever,” said Han.

  
  


 

_It took a year and a day for Runa and Tofi to build her tiny, homey rocket. They filled it with charts and paper and Tofi’s inks and berries. The family troop was not going to stop her, she wouldn’t be the first Wookie to journey to the stars, and they made sure she was well equipped with necessities; food, water, oxygen tanks. She was also give little trinkets to barter with, or even just to remind her of home; a velvet pouch, a feather of a falcon, an iron dagger, an ever-full canteen, a seed from a Wroshyr tree._

_The day of farewells and her courage nearly failed her. It would be so much cozier, after all, to stay with her family, to stay with Tofi. No one seemed to notice her hesitation as they all waved, but Tofi ran up to her. He gently rested his hand on the top of her head, as if drawing her fear out of her._

_And then he said,_

_“Remember your name.  
_ _Do not lose hope – what you seek will be found.  
_ _Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn.  
_ _Trust dreams._  
_Trust your heart, and trust your story.”_

_Runa smiled and with a final wave and a meaningful glance at Tofi, she entered her rocket. After the pre-flight checks, she blasted off into the stars._

_As soon as she left the atmosphere, there was a rush of joy and freedom. Runa weaved herself around the three moons, familiar to her as her beloved Wroshyr tree, then sped off into the stars to see what she could find, tracking Tofi’s maps and making notes in the margins._

_She wasn’t sure where to go first, all of the galaxy was her playground now. She wanted to land and play in mud and explore new forests. She flitted in and out of systems, some with no planets, some with dozens, some that were tiny star nurseries._

_She kept going until she found a planet with no sun at all. Curious, she landed and discovered a place with amethyst hills and emerald green oceans of sweet water. It was beautiful, but everyone knows that beautiful things are often the most dangerous._

_What seemed most dangerous of all were the beings - they cast no shadows and seemed to walk or dance without seeing or feeling. They seemed indifferent to Runa, their voices were neither high nor low, smooth one way, rough the other. In an absent sort of way, and they offered her flowers to eat._

_Runa tried one, and it gave her such dreams and visions that were so frightening and unfamiliar that she panicked. Though the fey that lived there tried to stop her, she pulled her iron dagger out - the fey folk disappeared like smoke in their darkness and Runa fled to her little ship and hid there until the horrid visions stopped. The next day she was dry-mouthed and horrified at the terrible experience that she launched herself into the galaxy without saying goodbye, desperate to get away from those who ate the a’mi-dala flowers._

_She left the dark lonely planet and pointed herself at the brightest star she could see._

  
  


 

Time meant nothing in space travel, distances were what mattered. All the same, the Pyke Syndicate wanted quick deliveries. Spice didn’t last that long, and the highs were better the fresher the product.

The run from Formos to Kessel wasn’t a straight shot, however, and required dropping in and out of lightspeed at precise moments. The wrong calculation at the wrong time could result in being sucked into the Maw or slamming into the Pit or incinerating in a hot baby star. Take too long and the spice got too dry. There was little risk of runners using the spice; doing so would be nothing less than a death sentence. Better to wait for Kessel.

Han wasn’t a spice addict (no money in that), but he hated waiting.

Still, he never argued with Chewie’s departure windows, nor his azimuth calcs. Especially since charts for the Kessel run were all bad.

“Okay, ready?” Chewie said, coming out of his cabin.

His latest calculations were on his battered datapad. He plugged it into the _Falcon’_ s console, pulling up the new trajectories.

“As I’ll ever be,” Han replied.

They ran through the charts one more time so they both knew the route. They’d made this run more than a few times, and Chewie had calculated a new path, a riskier one, but one that would cut their distance by a few parsecs here and there, and it would probably cut  the time too, depending on the black holes, which might screw with that a little. It would be risky, really risky. Neither of them knew what these shortcuts would do to them, or to the _Falcon_. But Han trusted Chewie to know what he was talking about. They both had a steady flying hand, and an urge to get to Kessel without wasting so much of the profit on fuel or food.

No risk, no reward. And there was nothing Han loved more than reward.

The preflight checks came as naturally as breathing, and they were off.

  
  


 

_Runa kept notes and added scribbles to Tofi’s star charts as she made her way to the brightest star in the galaxy. Doing so made her miss him less._

_Time passes slowly in space when one travels fast, but soon, very soon, she made her way to this star that had caught her eye. Unsure of what to expect (her first planet had been such a terror), she made her final approach slowly, cautiously. It was a good thing she did, for the sun was a dragon. It slumbered, it was true, but Runa was still quiet as she could be._

_She orbited its planet three times before landing. The sleeping dragon never woke._

_The planet itself was sand, sand, and more sand. And heat. There were clusters of settlements on the poles, the middle being mostly desert. It was much too hot for a wookie, and the beings planetside seemed to be distrustful of outsiders. Runa admired the small marketplaces and the heavily spiced food, she traded her ever-full canteen for a beautiful glass drinking vessel, but she did not linger long there._

_She took to her skies again, sneaking carefully past the still sleeping dragon. As she flew away, she wondered if the dragon ever woke, if the beings would be safe from its hunger. What do sun dragons eat? She hoped she’d never find out._

_Runa made her notes on Tofi’s star charts and wondered where to go next._

_The people in the market told her about another planet with markets even more stunning than theirs, perhaps she could go visit?_

_Satisfied with this direction, Runa took her star charts and plotted a new course._

_The new planet had a normal sun and, as promised, an incredible market place in the middle of its bustling and beautiful capitol. It seemed that every trinket in the galaxy was traded here; jewels that looked like baby stars, rich and heady spices, seeds to grow incredible flowers, beautiful books with gilded edges, gadgets to ease any chore, delicate dancing slippers, heavy work boots, dyes and potions and powders for altering one’s appearance. There were medicines, fruit and vegetables, and the clearest jars and vases she had ever seen - they almost seemed to be invisible._

_Runa bought herself a bouquet of some unusual and fragrant flowers before she stopped for a treat at an outdoor cafe, selecting a hot drink that was green and heavily spiced and some sort of square purple delicacy that was sweet and light._

_It gave her a chance to watch the ebb and flow and pulse in the marketplace, so unlike her homeworld. Beings walked the market this way and that, chattering and laughing in twos and threes. Folks smiled at her, waved. It was friendly._

_Runa loved it. She felt this experience fill her deeply. Perhaps the third time was the charm with planet visiting._

_She was enjoying the last of her hot drink and scribbling on her star charts when she was approached by a bent crone with flashing eyes and looked like she might be a witch._

_“May I sit here?” she asked._

_“Of course, ma’am.” Runa rolled up her charts so she could set her hot drink down and settle on the small stool._

_“Thank you, my dear. Oh, but it’s good to sit in the sun.”_

_“Yes, I was just admiring the marketplace,” Runa said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”_

_The old woman took a sip of her tea and said, “You have surely traveled far, my dear.”_

_Runa bowed her head. “I have.”_

_“Where are you going?”_

_“Wherever the solar winds blow me,” Runa told her. “I am exploring.”_

_“And when you are done exploring?”_

_“I don’t know,” Runa admitted._

_“I’m a nosey old witch, I know,” she said, “but I give wonderful advice.”_

_“Go on,” Runa encouraged with a smile._

_“You will know when it is the time to return home, my dear._

_When you come back, return the way you came.  
_ _Favors will be returned, debts be repaid.  
_ _Do not forget your manners._  
_Do not look back.”_

_They finished their hot drinks in silence, but before leaving, Runa took care to scribble the crone’s words on her star chart. She would not take any payment for her advice, though Runa offered. Still, it was time to continue exploring._

  
  


 

Whatever happened, they had avoided The Pit. If there was one thing Han hated, it was asteroids. But trying to navigate one when you were nearly blind from exhaustion was far worse.  

They’d had a few close calls with some other stupid space rocks, but nothing like the outer arm of The Pit.  

“Don’t relax,” Chewie warned.

“Relax? On a Kessel run? I thought we were headed to a spa, Chewie.”

He downed a mouthful of caf. It had cooled. Cold caf was disgusting.  

“Someday, we are going to make enough damned credits to retire to some damn pleasure planet.”

“Not likely.”

“You never know. This could be our trip,” Han replied.

He typed Chewie’s calculation into the navicomputer and they dropped into hyperspace again. Maybe long enough for a nap, or maybe to reheat his mug. Han considered his options. Reheated caf was vile.

“You could always marry someone for money,” Chewie suggested.

“Yeah, maybe Jabba has a daughter. And you could be the next Emperor,” Han said. He rubbed his eyes.

“Your human brain is making you delirious. Go rest, I have a few more hours before my exhaustion catches up with me.”

“Fine. Work on those political speeches while you’re up here. It’ll keep you from going blind from the hyperspeed.”

Chewie laughed.  

Han managed about an hour of sleep before an alarm sounded and Chewie needed another set of eyes and hands. They had dropped out of hyperspace and were instantly surrounded by some angry miners who thought they were too close to whatever substance they were pulling out of nebula clusters.

“I told you not to relax!”

“You also told me to rest, one thing or another!”

Han swerved around another miner in a deep space cruiser while Chewie made rapid calculations, trying to determine a safe jump. Fortunately, it didn’t take long.

While Han was returning some fire to the miners, Chewie punched into hyperspace.  

“My turn for a nap.”

Han had some choice words for his copilot as Chewie left him to the controls.

  
  


 

_She didn’t linger long on any one planet. Runa wanted to see every star, if she could. Maybe. It was a half formed thought from her childhood. Really, she was just happy to zoom around in her rocket, playing with speed and distance and time, trying to unwrap their mysteries._

_Her next visit was to a barren rock of a planet that was empty, so empty, except for two trees. There was a tall oak that seemed to grow out of a castle, and a smaller tree in a graveyard, growing yet, not ready to bear fruit._

_Curious, Runa entered the castle to find an empty throne and the trunk of the Oak, its roots breaking up the stone floor. The emptiness seemed to echo around her, making her feel cold. It felt wrong to climb this tree, somehow. She went outside again._

_No life grew in this place, the wilderness was right outside the gate. She watched the leaves rustle on the smaller tree for awhile. Again, she was struck by the thought that she should not climb this tree, though she was a champion climber. After awhile the night fell. Runa could feel the loneliness seep into her fur, her bones. She wasn’t sure what held her there, held her still, but she seemed to be waiting for something._

_Near dawn, she was startled by a “Hello.”_

_“Hello,” Runa replied automatically, looking around._

_Her eyes rested on a beautiful firebird, her red and gold plumage swirled around her.  “Do you live here?” Runa asked._

_“No. Do you?” Her wings flared and she twirled circles, as if delighted to be talking to someone._

_“No, ma’am. I was wondering why this place made me feel so lonely.”_

_“Well, if you don’t live here, and I don’t live here, maybe no one lives here, and maybe that makes you lonely.”  She roosted gently on the gate. The gate seemed unharmed by her._

_“Perhaps,” said Runa. “Do you know who used to live here?”_

_She cocked her head. “I used to know, but it was a long time ago. I don’t remember. The trees do, though.”_

_“They do?”_

_“Yes. Trees remember everything. I don’t know how to ask them, do you?” She took flight again and wheeled around._

_Runa followed her with her eyes. “I don’t either.”_

_“Too bad. Well, goodbye!”_

_“Goodbye!”  Shaking her head, but feeling less lonely, she took the Wroshyr seed from her pouch and planted it a few paces from the tree in the graveyard. Trusting the firebird when she said the trees would remember, Runa left for the stars again._

_She drifted near a black hole, careful not to get to close to it, knowing it could suck her in should she cross the event horizon. It was massive, the black hole, and so dark. Any light that got near the black hole was lengthened and swallowed._

_Runa stayed sketching and taking notes of the sad, barren planet and the black hole, until her clock slowed and it would have been too dangerous to stay there._

_She took her controls and sped away. As she did, her clock fell into its rhythm again, and Runa felt better. She traced the star charts she had made with Tofi and set her course to a new planet._

  
  


 

They had locked on to the gravity of a small, seemingly uninhabited planet. Both Han and Chewie needed sleep. It was cheating a bit to circle around the planet -- the only power they needed was to balance the gravity so as not to be pulled in, and that didn’t count against their mileage. But six hours of sleep and a sonic shower didn’t feel like too much of a cheat. Especially when anyone making the Kessel Run wasn’t exactly known for their honor. But the Maw would require all their faculties. This was letting the _Falcon_ rest, too.

Six hours went fast.

“Ready?” Chewie asked seriously.

The Maw was no joke. Han answered just as soberly. “Yeah.”

Chewie poked the calcs again, plugging in declination, and right ascension, accounting for gravity reads and fresh azimuth readings of nearby objects. The Maw was the largest recorded black hole in the galaxy, and one of the most mysterious. This part of space was so undocumented, so treacherous, no scientist, not even the most cut-throat imperial, had really dared to get even basic readings of it. The _Falcon_ ’s readings now were the first ones since before Han had even been born. They had to get this right.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Chewie typed a few last calcs into the navicomputer and took his position.

They rocketed around the planet a final time and were pushed into space.

They skirted the Maw the best they could. The gravity of the black hole was enormous, unbelievably so, and they had to fight for every meter of progress. Light stretched and stretched and Han stopped looking at the chrono because it wasn’t correct anymore. The moments seemed to last forever, but Han trusted Chewie’s calculations. They wouldn’t cross the event horizon, not if they could help it. So long as the _Falcon_ held.

And she did.  

Han laughed and Chewie roared as they burst through the clutches of the Maw, having successfully avoided crossing the event horizon. Han did a hard reset of their chrono and checked their milage.  

Mostly he couldn’t believe this was working. They’d shaved off so much distance.  

He wondered if anyone would believe them without sharing the new route. If they could manage to keep this to themselves, they really would be rich.  

  
  


 

_Seven years passed, with Runa flitting from planet to planet to planet. She had fallen in love with the galaxy, one planet at a time. They were not always pleasant or friendly, but most beings were kind and happy to point her in directions they knew._

_As she explored, she fell in love with the worlds: their variety, warmth, and sharpness, the smells, the sounds. Runa loved the sun on her fur, the dust on her feet. She adored shining cities and all their noises, simple towns, isolated farms, silent wilderness, and everything inbetween. The food was delicious and varied with seasonings and spices. The art and stories and books she encountered set her imagination alight. She loved the pure white snow in the winter, it was a pleasure to watch it fall, to make tracks in it. She loved watching it melt and the arrival of green springs. Summers were hot autumns had trees that changed color and autumn had arrived. The trees made her miss Tofi, miss her home among the Wroshyr trees. She walked and she walked and she walked. And she came to know herself._

_Runa found herself in another barren wilderness, talking to a snarling wolf who claimed to not remember anything about this planet. He had a massive scar on his hindquarters. When Runa asked about the wound he shrugged._

_“It was bound up by a woman with steady hands. She was nearly caught by her enemies, but I cannot say I know what happened to her.”_

_“I see. Is your planet empty now?”_

_“Near enough,” the wolf said._

_“Would you wish to leave?”_

_The wolf flopped over in the dust, rolling around. “No, it is my home.”_

_“Where do you think I should go next?”_

_He pointed her at a planet of mostly water. In return, she gave him her velvet pouch. “It will go with your noble scar,” she said with a grin before climbing in her rocket._

_She noted on her yellowing star charts that so many planets that she encountered were empty, or nearly so. It made her feel lonely. Runa had been away from her family troop for so long. There were still so many stars to see, though, and she set her course for this newest one._

_It was indeed a water planet, with shining salt seas. There were beings that lived on land, and beings that lived in the sea. They were uneasy neighbors, but there were those that went between._

_She traded her falcon feather with a ferryman to take her to an island with a lighthouse._

_“Did the falcon give it freely, or did you take it?” he asked sharply before agreeing to the trade._

_“My cousin found it, alone in a Wroshyr tree, I swear this to you.”_

_He nodded and allowed her into the boat._

_“It’s said that a guardian sleeps there, to be woken in times of need,” he said as he rowed. He was grizzled and gray and sad looking. Lonely._

_“I am not in need,” Runa admitted._

_He rowed her around the island so she could take in the lighthouse from every angle. The ferryman didn’t say much, and neither did Runa. The wind across the water made her cold._

_“Can the guardian in the lighthouse help you?” she asked gently at the end of her journey._

_He shook his head. “No. We had seven years together. Some choices are harder than others, but she had to leave.”_

_Runa cried as she made her way back to her ship.  She tried to make notes on her star charts, but she felt even worse for it, how Tofi had made them so lovingly. She missed him, missed her family troop._

_And then, she realized she was not tethered to the stars, just as she had not been tethered to her home. She could return home, and visit the stars again when her wanderlust got the best of her._

_She laughed a little at her decision, how easy it seemed. The simplicity of her situation filled her with joy._

_Runa remembered the words of the old woman in the market though, and set her course._

  
  


 

From here, the charts were mostly empty.

It could be that nothing was here. But it could also be that what was here was fatal to all who met it. Han and Chewie had no way of knowing. They went back and forth, weighing the pros and cons of going back to the main path.  

“We’ve made it this far,” Han said.

“How long do we trust our luck to hold?” Chewie asked.

“It wasn’t luck that got us here, though.”

“Just greed.”

“I was going to say courage.”

Chewie made some more calcs on his datapad. Han flipped the _Falcon_ over and over, itching at their indecision.  

“Okay,” said Chewie. “But we can’t risk lightspeed until we know what we’re traveling through.”

“You’re the boss,” Han said.

They flew manually, seeming to inch along at sublight speed. Better safe than sorry, better boring than dead.

It was a few days before anything happened -- Chewie was napping in his chair Han was piloting.

And he heard a sound. A strange one. Humming and buzzing and crooning. It seemed like the whole of the Galaxy was whispering in his ears. Love and desire and a strange sense of bravado filled his head. 

It felt like an itch, one that needed scratching.  He spun the _Falcon_ around, looking for the source, finding it from a beautiful looking rogue planet. No star, it was just there, looking all the world like it was bouncing with joy for seeing him.

Han turned hard, heading for it.

Then Chewie woke up.  

Han didn’t remember anything else later, waking up in his bunk with a lump on the top of his head.  

He stumbled to the cockpit, bleary eyed, scrubbing his face with his hands. The desire and bravado had left, leaving only confusion.

“What? The hell?”

“You nearly killed us. Don’t you recognize a siren when you hear one?”

“Shit,” Han said simply. Sirens were signals, ones that lured in tired starpilots with frequencies that made them feel... well. What Han had felt, he assumed. But lures were... bad. Usually the starpilots were never heard from again.

“How come you weren’t affected?”

“Different ear drums,” Chewie said. “They didn’t calibrate for wookie copilots.”

“Right,” said Han. “Do we have any meds for concussions?”

“You could sound a little more grateful.”

“Probably.” Han dropped into his seat and took the controls from Chewie.  
  


 

 

_It took Runa seven years to explore, it took her a year and a day to return. Working from her star charts, she retraced her steps.The terrifying planets she did not dare set foot on a second time, but she circled them, studying them again._

_Before she left the water planet, she visited the Ferryman again, not for a journey, but to hear his tale of heartbreak while he held her paw. She liked him very much and offered to bring him home with her, but he declined. She understood._

_Runa then visited the snarling wolf. He seemed proud to wear her velvet pouch, and he circled around her, speaking nonsense. It was a short visit, but she admired the pouch and the scar and silently thanked the woman with steady hands who had helped him. The barrenness and emptiness of the planet seemed beautiful to her now, because she was going home._

_“Thank you for pointing me to the water planet,” she said to him._

_“My pleasure. Did you find what you were looking for?”_

_Runa smiled. “I think so. I’m going home now, and happily so.”_

_“It’s good to be home,” he agreed._

_Indeed, the stars held mystery and adventure, and as Runa revisited with the promise of home in her mind, she fell in love with the worlds all over again. She said hello again to her shining cities and rural farms and quiet wildernesses. She tasted her new favorite foods, the art and stories and books. She tracked in familiar snow and danced in a perfect green springtime. The trees, which had made her homesick before, reminded her that she was returning to her family troop, and that she would have new star stories to tell Tofi._

_Folk and beings sometimes seemed surprised to see her a second time, but all were just as welcoming._

_The firebird reacted differently when she went to visit her Wroshyr tree. The planet was still a wilderness. The lonely sentinel oak stood guard in the throne room, the younger trees in the graveyard were reaching for the skies._

_Her Wroshyr tree was still tiny, but it looked strong and hearty. She smiled at it and thought of Tofi._

_“Don’t forget me,” she urged it._

_“It won’t,” said a familiar voice. “The trees remember.”_

_“I know,” said Runa, turning. The firebird was there in all her flaming glory. “Hello again.”_

_“Hello,” said the firebird. “Who are you? Do you know me?”_

_Runa felt sad for the bird. Perhaps the trees took all her memories? She held fast to her own name, determined not to lose it. “I have heard tell of your greatness, Lady Firebird, and your cunning.”_

_“And of course my beauty,” the firebird prompted._

_“Of course,” Runa said with a smile.  “Your beauty is legendary.”_

_“Hmmm. I like you.” She flitted around._

_“I am honored.”_

_“Will you be staying here?”_

_“No, Lady Firebird. I must travel home.”_

_She nodded solemnly. “So you must. All things must return home in the end.”_

_Runa bowed to the firebird and took her leave of this strange planet._

_Once again she drifted near a black hole, feeling sorry for the very lonely firebird. She was very glad to return home to Tofi. But she still had a few more stops to make, as she set her course._

_In the marketplace on her third planet, excitement thrummed through her. The energy of the shoppers and merchants fed her. Soon she will be with Tofi again, and though their planet didn’t have markets like this, she looked forward to his company._

_It was then that the witch found her._

_“Going home?” she asked._

_“I am.”_

_She smiled. “And what have you learned on your journey?”_

_“I have learned what it is to be lonely, I have learned to rely on myself, i have learned to love the galaxy.”_

_“I’m glad for you, my dear.”_

_“I have a gift for you,” Runa said, digging in her bag. She pulled out her iron knife. She was much taller than the woman and the knife would perhaps be too large for her. It was tarnished from lack of use. “Please take this as a token for the advice you gave me seven years ago.”_

_“And you’re taking it?” she asked._

_“I have two planets left to go.”_

_It was then the crone took the knife. “It is well. Safe journey, my dear.”_

_“Thank you again.”_

_Runa left again, circling back to the planet with the dragon for a sun, then to the trickster planet with its a’mi-dala flowers, and then set her course for home._

_As she made her final approach, the canopy of trees seemed to welcome her.  Runa carried all her experiences in her heart and longed to climb a tree with Tofi, gaze at the stars, and tell him stories. Then they would pour over his maps, and make new ones. And then one day, if her restlessness returned, she would go back with the new charts._

  
  


 

The last few parsecs were well-traveled by Han and Chewie, as they joined up with the charted run once more. It was a well timed dance, dropping in and out of lightspeed.  

The _Falcon_ hummed happily as they caught another gravity boost from the system closest to Kessel, the last marker before the end of the journey.  

“So,” said Han, resting his feet on the console. “11.4 parsecs. And some change, by the time we make it to Kessel.”

“Yup,” said Chewie, leaning back in his own seat.  

“Should we do it again?”

Chewie thought. Poked at his calculations a minute, the notes that they made.

“We definitely would need to find a way around that siren. And we don’t know if there are worse dangers out there.”

“I can get some dampeners for my ears,” said Han.

Chewie laughed.

“I wouldn’t want to do it right away,” Chewie said.

Han nodded. “We could do some smaller jobs first. Cool our heels a bit.”

“Only you think more jobs are a vacation.”

Han threw up his hands with a laugh. “If you want to visit your girlfriend, just say so!”

“You’re just jealous,” Chewie teased.  

“Fine, we’ll go to Takodana, I could use a drink, and she carries the best Tikit ale I’ve ever tasted.”

“Good. Maz, minor jobs, and then a repeat performance of whatever this was.”

“An odyssey, Chewie. An epic quest.”

“If you say so.”

The once again timed the release from their orbit and rocketed into Kessel, with the freshest spice the junkies had ever tasted.

  
  


 

_But for now, as her family crowded around her in welcome, she was content to hold Tofi’s paw in hers._


End file.
